Featured User: Anthony De Blasi

Anthony De Blasi is 39 years old and was born in Belgium. He is the son of an Italian father and a Belgian mother. He has been living with his wife Nathalie for 13 years now (6 years as a married couple). Together they have a wonderful, 7 year old daughter, Maxime. This happy family lives near the city of Antwerp where they love going out for dinner, inviting or visiting friends, travelling and enjoying all other good things in life, including good cuisine and exquisite wines. He has an economics degree and is currently employed as a Finance Director. Besides wine, his other two hobbies are cycling and music. Delectable: What sparked your passion for wine? Anthony De Blasi: Food and wine were always present in our day-to-day life due to the Italian influences from my father's side. Because my mother was also wild for the Italian way of living, it doesn’t need any explanation that the probability of a wine hobby was quite high (my sister just started her WSET 3 education). At the age of 28, I read a short article on the Italian wine denomination ( IGT , DOC , DOCG ). I was so intrigued that I drove to the first bookstore nearby and bought myself a wine dictionary. I still remember my wife laughing since she couldn’t understand why I was memorizing the Bordeaux left bank villages. Since that day, I haven’t stopped reading about, collecting and of course drinking wine. D: What wine region are you wild about right now? ADB: Piemonte , especially Barbaresco , is my all-time favorite, but currently, Greece has my attention. The high diversity of this country is so appealing, and it is able to satisfy all kinds of wine lovers. It may not surprise you that Naoussa is my favorite Greek region due to the similarity to Nebbiolo based wines. D: What is the most unusual wine you’ve ever tried? ADB: Without a doubt the ES from Gianfranco Fino . I wish I had this wine before I read the critiques, but I fully agree on what was written about it. The wine is initially all over the place, but in an unexplainable way, it all fits together and makes 100% sense at the end. Almost like an explosion played backwards. D: What is your golden rule for wine? ADB: Be ready for the wine. Exceptional wine will become mediocre if all circumstances around it are not perfect. If you are not ready for the wine, the wine won’t be either for you. D: Say you’re not allowed to have wine, what is your second option? ADB: Difficult one, I think I would go for a Gin-Tonic. D: Choose a movie, book, quote, or song and pair it with a wine ADB: Stripped by Depeche Mode and a well-made Barbaresco since the latter is for me the purest and most complex and honest expression of what a wine should be all about. D: If you were a wine, what wine would you be? ADB: A red Puglia wine like a Primitivo or Negroamaro . Loves the sun and approachable, but can have two sides: 1) reserved, down to earth and some acids when picked early or open 2) a bit flashy and sweet when picked later.